Africa Twin Long-Term Test: Update 1

Although we lost a little bit of time on our long-term Africa Twin over the winter due to the bike residing in the Colorado Rockies, we did get in some sporadic riding. But once spring arrived we’ve been logging some serious miles, including a 2500-mile round trip to Southern California for the Honda NT1100 press event, and a lot of off-highway exploring on dirt backroads in our local mountains.

Nothing will tell you more about how a motorcycle functions than knocking out eight-hour days in the saddle. Not only do you learn about the bike, but also figure out what will make it more functional for those long trips. And while the Africa Twin isn’t billed as a full-blown tourer, some of the accessories that we’ve thrown at it made it a clear choice for our latest SoCal to Colorado round trip.

In addition to the SW-Motech SysBag system, Doubletake’s latest adventure mirrors, and Dunlop Trailmax Raid tires, we’ve bolted on a rear tail rack, which also accommodates a top case (although we’re using it for a solid tie-down point), and then ordered up crashbars and a centerstand. One of our goals this summer is to ride the Colorado BDR route and attend some ADV rallies. Getting the bike dialed for those will require a few more protective pieces such as real hand guards, installing the crashbars, while also spooning on more aggressive Metzeler Karoo 4 tires in place of the Dunlops that are on there now.

We’ve been impressed with the Dunlop Trailmax Raid tires that we’ve been riding on for the last 3500 miles. Not only have these tires survived our 2500-mile round trip to California, but the rear pattern shows very little signs of getting squared off from highway riding. So far, these tires have proven to be really predictable in the dirt, providing good braking and side traction on hardpack, loose gravel, and rock-strewn trails. But the most impressive thing about these tires is how amazing they are on the asphalt. Compared to the stock Michelin Anakee Adventure, the Trailmax Raids provide a very noticeable step-up in on-road grip. The profile provides predictable turn-in, while offering excellent grip when leaned over.

We’ve played with the tire pressures constantly, and for the longer on-road rides have stuck to Dunlop’s recommended 39 psi front and 36 rear settings; For the dirt we’ve lowered those down to 25 psi—a good compromise between grip and not damaging the wheels on square-edge ledges. Interestingly, when we have lowered the pressures for dirt, and then ridden back home on the asphalt at the reduced pressures, they still perform exceptionally well. So far these tires have provided 90% of the desired off-road grip without any compromises on the road, and that is exactly what we wanted to get out of them.

Having now lived with the SW-Motech luggage for multiple months, using them for local errands, and on several overnight trips, we are impressed. These bags have proven to be incredibly easy to snap on and take off with their cam-pin attachment system. Pulling into a hotel in the pouring rain and being able to remove them in seconds with a single button has earned them serious brownie points.

For our SoCal trip they were loaded with clothes, extra riding gear, and highway necessities like a plug kit, tools, and tire inflator. The waterproof roll-top design is easy to get in and out of while the adjustable straps make it easy to cinch down everything when they are stuffed to capacity. Through multiple rain showers and even some snow, the contents stayed completely dry. Another feature that makes packing very easy is the removable three-compartment inner bags (adjustable with Velcro separators), that also provide some padding to your contents. So far the bags have shown zero signs of wear and tear or sagging on their rigid baseplates.

As for the performance of the Africa Twin, we’ve noticed a huge swing in power output between our 7500-feet-above-sea-level homebase in Colorado and Southern California. The biggest difference is that if you need to pull out and pass a car on a short straight in the Rockies, a downshift or two is highly recommended, while that same overtake at sea level can be made in sixth gear. Off-road riding has us questioning the gearing (at least at high altitudes where engine performance is further clipped): First gear is too short and second just a bit too tall on our standard transmission model, especially when navigating through rocks and ruts on alpine Jeep roads, which keeps you busy shifting when you’d prefer to just focus on your lines.

Fuel mileage has bobbed around wildly. On the way to California we were crushed by crazy headwinds. The combination of the saddlebags, having the windscreen in its highest position, and strong gusts through Utah with the cruise control set to 80 mph netted our worst mileage to date with a 32 mpg average (forcing us to fill up at only 140 miles with the fuel light flashing at around 110). This is quite a contrast to our best-to-date tank that was a 55 mpg average. There are a few gaps in Utah where stopping to top up the tank is a good idea, especially when the range is compromised by conditions. If longer-distance touring is on the agenda, the Adventure Sports ES model offers an extra 1.6 gallons of fuel capacity compared to the base model’s 5.0 gallons. Our best mileage in theory could potentially net a range of 275 miles, but we’ve usually filled up closer to 225.

There are some things that we really like about the rider interface and some things that we simply can’t wrap our heads around. Basic functions like changing modes on the fly are very easy to access once you are accustomed to the buttons on the left-bar control pod. Additionally, scrolling through the bike’s tripmeters, fuel range, and import information is also intuitive. Where we’ve stumbled is accessing some of the more hidden features, like display viewing options. But once we dug into the owner’s manual a bit more, we’ve been able to customize everything to preference. We personally prefer the Gold display mode over the two other options, Silver and Bronze. The Gold option has the most info and also displays the tripmeters and options for changing TC and wheelie control on the fly. So we’ve changed the defaults to Gold on all of the modes instead of the more simplistic defaults used for Off-Road and Gravel.

Perhaps the most annoying thing about the system is accessing the Apple CarPlay features. Apple (and not Honda) has some requirements that make this process annoying. The first and most obvious is that you have to have a helmet communicator if you want to use CarPlay or Android Auto. Now that we have our Cardo Packtalk Edge linked to the bike and our phone paired, using these features has been mostly trouble free. But if you forget to charge your helmet unit, CarPlay won’t connect, so take that into consideration before a trip.

There is still some menu-navigation logic that isn’t entirely intuitive, but practice has lessened the frustration. When everything is working properly, especially on long trips, having the navigation, music, and phone at your fingertips is really nice. Overall we can’t complain too much about the Africa Twin’s user interface, as this motorcycle comes with a ton of features that most bikes in this price range don’t offer at all, but navigating newer setups like on the CB1000 Hornet SP prove that the AT’s interface is dated.

A few things worth mentioning about living with this bike on a daily basis include the fact that the windscreen isn’t very easy to adjust on the fly. The design has a pair of pinch clamps that require two hands for adjustment. So you either have to make those adjustments when you are stopped or set the cruise control and make a quick adjustment (we do not recommend this!). The cruise control is one area of the rider interface that is exceedingly easy to use. Once you activate the system, setting your speed, changing your speed, and resuming to that setting is simple. And being able to deactivate cruise by rotating the throttle closed is much smoother than tapping a brake (which is the other option).

Another complaint is that the USB port only has an older-style USB-A connection, so if you have an Android or current iPhone, you’ll need a specific cord for charging and connection (in addition to the helmet comm, your phone needs to be connected to the bike for CarPlay to work). Additionally, we’ve had the USB cord rattle loose when riding off-road, cutting out CarPlay.

Depending on the riding, the two-position-adjustable seat gets changed a lot. For long highway rides, having the seat in the high position gives a bit more legroom to stretch out. But for off-road and urban riding, having the seat in the low position is nice for improved footing. The process takes just a few seconds once the seat is removed; just slide the seat into the higher or lower slots to adjust.

Next up on the agenda is installing a new handlebar, hand guards, and enduro footpegs from Fasst Company before we head out to do the Colorado BDR. The next Honda recommended oil change is at 8000 miles, so we’ll see where we are at before our next update. Then we’ll mount up the Metzeler Karoo 4 tires and see if they offer additional off-road traction than the Dunlops.

Total Mileage: 5355 miles

Cycle World–Measured Average MPG: 45.1 mpg

Maintenance Costs to Date: 0

Repair Costs to Date: 0

Dunlop Trailmax Raid tires: 90/90-21, $172; 150/70-18, $285

SW-Motech SysBag L/L System (includes all mounting hardware): $1140

Doubletake Mirror Adventure Mirror Kit: $145

Honda Aluminum Top Case Mount, accessory No. 08L80-MKS-E00: $193.95

By Blake Conner

Originally posted: October 4, 2024

What makes a great adventure bike? Well, that’s about as loaded a question as there is in motorcycling. The class is so complex these days that there is literally a bike for every type of riding and rider. But there are a bunch of bikes that can just about do it all—ones that walk down the middle of the road. These bikes that aren’t class leaders off road or on, but that are competent just about anywhere. The Honda Africa Twin has proven to be one of those machines. But even within Honda’s own lineup there are four different Africa Twin models including the base model, the Africa Twin DCT, the Adventure Sports ES, and the Adventure Sports ES DCT.

When Honda asked us if we’d like to have a long-term Africa Twin testbike for a year, we jumped at the chance. But which model should we choose? After thinking about it, we asked for the base model for a couple of reasons. First of all, at $14,799, it is the least expensive open-class model on the market, and also kind of a blank slate that we could build up into exactly what we want it to be. Looking at the competition, the Suzuki V-Strom 1050DE starts at $16,199, the Yamaha Super Ténéré ES at $16,299, KTM’s 1290 Super Adventure R at $20,999, the BMW R 1300 GS at $18,895, Harley-Davidson’s Pan America 1250 at $19,999, and Triumph’s Tiger 1200 Rally Pro at $22,995.

Looking at it like that, we figured that we can turn our base AT into exactly the bike we want it to be, and still be ahead in terms of total expenditures compared to most of the competition. Digging further into the bike’s features, we can’t help but notice that the Honda is a real bargain; In terms of standard features the AT is loaded. The chassis features Showa suspension that is fully adjustable front and rear (manual adjusters in the case of the base bike), has cornering-enabled ABS that can be switched off at the rear, and it comes with tubeless spoked wheels in 21-inch front and 18-inch rear sizes. In terms of electronics it has six riding modes (two of which are customizable), a large 6.5-inch TFT display, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and cruise control, while with some patience you can turn off the TC and wheelie control. The windscreen is easily adjustable without tools, while the accessory catalog offers different seat options, a quickshifter, and a centerstand.

Before we started ordering up some aftermarket goodies, the first order of business was just to ride it and see what we felt it needed. I flew out to the Cycle World office in Irvine, California, picked up the bike, and rode it straight back to Colorado. With just a backpack and no luggage on the bike, I knew right away that we’d have to address the issue of storage on the bike. But otherwise the 1,000-mile ride from SoCal to Colorado was about as enjoyable and comfortable as could be.

The first day I knocked out 700 miles riding to Green River, Utah. With the windscreen in its highest position and the cruise control on, riding through a tank of fuel is easy. With Utah’s 80-mph speed limit I set the cruise to 85 and kicked back and let the red rocks and scenery fly by. But the fuel also flew by at that speed; I noticed that fuel mileage dropped down to around 40 mpg, whereas in California and Colorado (both with lower speed limits), the efficiency jumped back up to around 50.

Once I got back into Colorado, I hit some twisty back roads and a few long dirt roads that I’m familiar with. It was then that I realized that one of the first upgrades needs to be more aggressive tires for the dirt. The standard Michelin Anakee Adventure tires are great on road, but are very street oriented.

Since the bike has been back in Colorado, I’ve already put another 600-plus miles on it and am starting to get a good idea of what we want to do with the bike. The goal isn’t to make it a full-blown off-road machine, and it’s not about turning it into a road-oriented tourer, it’s really about making it better in both of those areas without compromising its well-balanced nature.

We’ve already addressed a few areas. We ordered a set of SW-Motech’s SysBag WP soft saddlebags and installed them. The installation was fairly simple with everything lining up nicely. The system utilizes a pair of base racks that bolt right onto the stock mounting locations on the Honda. Then you strap the softbags to a fully rigid backing plate, to which also attaches the hardware to connect the bags to the racks on the bike. After we spend some time with the bags we’ll give you a full review, but our first impressions are very positive. The bags themselves appear to be very high quality with excellent features and materials.

Next up we ordered a set of Doubletake Mirrors’ new updated adventure units. Not only are the mirrors infinitely adjustable, but the shape of the reflectors offer excellent rearward vision, and then allow the ability to fold them out of harm’s way when you head off-road. The new mirror arms (now designed in-house) have large adjuster knobs that make getting them dialed and snug very easy. With a new universal mounting kit, the mirrors are interchangeable with just about any adventure or dual sport bike, so when you get a new ride, you won’t have to order a new bolt kit.

We also ordered a few sets of tires, including Dunlop’s Trailmax Raid, which have a tread pattern that the company says is designed to offer a 40/60 split between dirt and street. And a set of Metzeler Karoo 4 tires, which are the company’s most aggressive ADV tire (without going to a full-on dirt bike knobby). So we’ll try both out and see what works best for the type of riding we plan to do. We also just ordered up Rabonconda’s brand-new street tire changer, that is designed to easily change street, ADV, and dirt bike tires on one well-thought-out contraption.

Now it’s time to stop talking and keep riding, and see how the mods we’ve made work, and figure out what else our Africa Twin needs. Next spring we’ll hit the Colorado BDR and see how our Africa Twin holds up.

Total Mileage: 2,215 miles

Cycle World Measured Average MPG: 48.1 mpg

Maintenance costs to date: 0

Aftermarket Parts Added:

SW-Motech SysBag L/L System (includes all mounting hardware): $1,140

Doubletake Mirror Adventure Mirror Kit: $145